Theater in Society, Society in Theater: Social History of a Cebuano Village, 1840–1940

Theater in Society, Society in Theater is both a detailed and imaginative reconstruction of the history of a Philippine village, the barrio of Valladolid in Carcar, southern Cebu, Though the history ranges from the 1500s to 1940, the focus is trained on a time of increased peasantization, the late nineteenth century and the first four decades of the twentieth century. In tTheater in Society, Society in Theater is both a detailed and imaginative reconstruction of the history of a Philippine village, the barrio of Valladolid in Carcar, southern Cebu, Though the history ranges from the 1500s to 1940, the focus is trained on a time of increased peasantization, the late nineteenth century and the first four decades of the twentieth century. In tracing the history of the village, the author analyzes transformations in its moral order as revealed in the external and internal changes of the village theater tradition, the tradition of the linambay, or komedya.

In three main parts, the book sketches the processes of integration and dissolution in the structure of the village from the 1500s to 1940, analyzes the dynamics of the linambay tradition, and explores the social and economic conditions in the barrio in the early twentieth century to show how, indeed, theater is embedded in society, and society in theater.

In its combination of the methods of literary criticism, cultural anthropology, and history, the work is an important contribution to Philippine studies....more

Trained in literature and anthropology, Resil B. Mojares won several National Book Awards from the Manila Critics Circle for works in fields as diverse as literary criticism, urban and rural history, and political biography.

He has been a recipient of prizes for his short stories, a national fellowship in the Essay from the UP Creative Writing Center, and teaching and research fellowships from theTrained in literature and anthropology, Resil B. Mojares won several National Book Awards from the Manila Critics Circle for works in fields as diverse as literary criticism, urban and rural history, and political biography.

He has been a recipient of prizes for his short stories, a national fellowship in the Essay from the UP Creative Writing Center, and teaching and research fellowships from the Ford, Toyota, and Rockefeller foundations, Fulbright Program, and Social Science Research Council (New York).

He has served as visiting professor at the University of Wisconsin, University of Hawaii, and University of Michigan.